More than $300,000 grant goes to Detroit minority business center

Detroit's MBDA Business Center is the recipient of $310,225 grant to help minority businesses

The Minority Business Development Agency Business Center in Detroit has been awarded a $310,225 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's MBDA office.

Detroit is one of 21 grant recipients for a program designed to help minority-owned firms create jobs, compete in the global economy and expand their businesses. The Department of Commerce is awarding a total of $31.5 million to major cities throughout the country.

The MBDA Business Center in Detroit is operated by the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council.

Michelle Sourie Robinson, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council's president and CEO, could not be reached for comment.

"For more than 40 years, MBDA has led efforts to support minority firms and provide them with the tools and technical expertise they need to excel." Alejandra Y. Castillo, MBDA national director, said in a news release. "This is the very foundation on which this agency was founded back in 1969. It's the core of who we are and what we represent."

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2012 Survey of Business Owners, minority-owned firms in the U.S. increased from 5.8 million in 2007 to 8 million in 2012, and employed 7.2 million people in 2012. Since 2009, MBDA Business Centers have assisted minority-owned firms with gaining access to more than $31 billion in capital and contracts, while creating and retaining nearly 142,000 jobs.

Other cities that received grants include Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dallas, Phoenix, and Seattle.

The recipients are receiving the federal funds during a five-year period that started April 1.